Editor, author and care leaver Allan Jenkins talks about his new book Plot 29 .

Music Genre & Song Writing on 16th September 6pm

Free

Free

Closed

An interactive workshop exploring different approaches to song writing across genres.

Q&A and panel discussion 14th September 6pm

Free

Free

Closed

Meet the people behind the portraits & join a discussion with care leaver and filmmaker Rebecca Southworth

A group of young care leavers from London have directed their own self-portraits, which will be displayed with accompanying monologues. In a startling and humbling celebration of diverse voices, each individual explores why their chosen place is meaningful to them and how it relates to or shapes their sense of identity.

Allan Jenkins is editor of Observer Food Monthly. He was previously editor of the Observer Magazine, food and drink editor on the Independent newspaper and once lived in an experimental eco-community on Anglesey, growing organic food on the edge of the Irish sea.

His new memoir Plot 29 (published by Harper Collins), tells the story of Allan and his brother Christopher, young boys in 1960s Plymouth who were rescued from their care home and fostered by an elderly couple. There, the brothers started to grow flowers in their riverside cottage. Over the course of a year, Allan digs deeper into his past, seeking to learn more about his absent parents. Examining the truths and untruths that he’d been told, he discovers the secrets to why the two boys were in care. What emerges is a vivid portrait of the violence and neglect that lay at the heart of his family.

Allan will be reading from Plot 29 and there will be a Q&A.

Thursday 14th September, 1pm – 2pm Q&A with This Is Me participants

Drive Forward Foundation will host some of the young people who have generously shared their stories for This is Me, for a live Q&A open to the general public.

Music artist, producer, youth mentor and care-leaver Zach (stage name Attrayu) will lead a creative session exploring different approaches to song writing across the genres of Hip Hop, Grime, Reggae and RnB. Participants will be invited to explore what defines these different styles, in a collaborative and friendly workshop. They will also be able to apply this thinking in a practical song writing exercise.